It is known that microstructure plays a key role in the establishment of mechanical properties. Depending on the processing method, a material's structure can be developed to enhance material properties. For instance, it is possible to modify the grain or crystalline structure of the material using mechanical, or thermo-mechanical processing techniques.
United States Patent Application 2011/0179848 discloses a commercially pure titanium product having enhanced properties for biomedical applications. The titanium product has a nanocrystalline structure, which provides enhanced properties in relation to the original mechanical properties, including mechanical strength, resistance to fatigue failure, and biomedical properties. It is disclosed that the known titanium product is first subject to severe plastic deformation (SPD) using an equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) technique at a temperature no more than 450° C. with the total true accumulated strain e≥4, and then subsequently developed using thermomechanical treatment with a strain degree from 40% to 80%. In particular, the thermomechanical treatment includes plastic deformation performed with a gradual decrease of temperature in the range T=450 . . . 350° C. and the strain rate of 10−2 . . . 10−4 s−1.
While this known technique achieves a higher level of mechanical properties for commercially pure titanium, there is a need to increase the level of tensile and/or shear strength, as well as fatigue properties in titanium alloys for various engineering applications, including but not limited to biomedical, energy, high performance sporting goods, and aerospace applications.